New Delhi - The move to permit old public-private-partnership (PPP) cargo terminals operating at state-owned major ports under a regulated set-up to migrate to a free pricing regime will “protect” the users and the port authorities, while private operators will have to “perform” to get better revenue, said an expert, who helped write the draft guidelines.

“Competition is so fierce. There are private ports operating next to government ports. Within one port (J N Port in Mumbai) itself, there are five terminals run separately by some of the top container terminal operators in the . . .